Live a Creative Life

As a former attorney, I should have been more conscientious, but I was surprised to receive an email from Richard Florida’s Creative Class Group asking me to stop using their registered mark. I’ve adopted the term in my writing and come to think that it represents a better way to think about the people with whom I identify. Technically, the mark refers to:

[The] group of individuals in creative fields of employment, where the individual’s primary employment duties require him or her to innovate, create, or high-level problem-solve, namely– the arts, music, science and engineering, design, entrepreneurship, education, and the knowledge-based professions of business, finance, law, and health care. [from USPTO]

My initial reaction to their email was defensive…but I thought about it and honestly, while I was definitely intending to promote the concept, and considered my use “fair use,” I was also probably hoping to piggyback off their brand. A goal of this blog is to share my perspective–to be a blog of that group of individuals who work in the fields described above and illustrate how we blend our lives, work and community involvement. It’s ironic because I also get into trouble with some readers here for using that rather “loaded” label: labeling anything “creative” implies that if it doesn’t fit, it’s not creative…and that smacks of elitism.

So, time for a new term, a phrase I can use to brand this blog in an inclusive way. I think the issues I’m talking about are not generational; I am Generation X, but feel a lot in common with the next generation and have a lot of boomer ideas too. And perhaps “class” is itself too loaded a term. But from day one of blogging, I have written about how work changes us and I think the mash-up life, the “blended life” (somebody is probably trademarking that!), and our tendency to approach life as a set of problems to be solved is largely a product of our work experience.

But it’s not just work and it is not just an effort to blend or balance work and life. We strive to put our unique stamp on everything we do. We don’t accept the status quo, even in the most mundane things–we want to improve–or at least add to whatever it is we are engaged in. We live a creative life–a life where every experience is an opportunity to think: what can I add to this? Sometimes it comes across as criticism–people see us questioning the status quo and pointing out flaws. Or it comes across as elitism–based on a little bit of information, we are ready to tell everyone how it could all be done better. So our challenge is to manage and communicate our true intentions better.

So, while I cannot claim this blog as a blog for a “class” of people, I can claim it as a blog for those of any economic background and any generation who share the creative impulse and want to live a creative life.